September 16, 2018

The cover letter is how job hunters introduce themselves to potential employers.

Essentially, that means it's a sales pitch.

And, if the sales pitch is done effectively, the cover letter can prevent seasoned professionals from getting knocked out of the box as "overqualified."

That's because they leverage every word in the cover letter to promote what they can accomplish for that employer - better, faster, and less expensive that the 200 or 300 others applying for that job.

That's what matters to employers. If they have evidence you will produce what they need they are likely to overlook age per se.

Nonono, never is a cover letter a nicely formatted laundry list of credentials. That's more resume territory. And, in this hyper competitive market for good jobs, even the resume focuses on accomplishments. For instance, the Summary section explicitly and briefly itemizes accomplishments, with one line stating what the job applicant can also accomplish for this specific employer.

The cover letter for older professionals, however, starts up in the usual manner.

There is an enthusiastic acknowledgement what an opportunity it would be to, for example, be part of the cloud team at IBM.

If the employer's identity is not provided, then talk generically about the contribution cloud is bringing to business and how you want to part of that disruption.

Yes, demonstrate in that first paragraph that you have done some research. That shows you are really interested, a natural hustler, and will pull out all stops performing on the actual job.

Then, state explicitly you are the best professional to generate the outcomes that employer needs.

Base that on what you have achieved for recent employers. As an older professional, you have to keep your work history short. A long one waves a red flag in front of employers that you expect high compensation for all that experience.

Incidentally, more employers are indicating experience caps in the help-wanted. That could be, for instance, two years. That's all they are willing to pay for.

The wrong tactic is to simply describe skills. Instead you have to make clear how those skills helped produce positive outcomes in the past. Then, you will indicate you can do the same or even better for this employer.

After you hit hard with accomplishments then you can describe other edges you have. For instance, you bring additional value to this tech employer because of your background in marketing.

Note, for instance, that you had been on the board of directors of the American Marketing Association, served on a multidisciplinary team which focused on marketing initiatives at your previous or current employer, and/or design marketing strategies as a consultant.

A line or two on community outreach? Sure, employers might want to see signs of good character.

Then, request an interview. Provide easy ways to be contacted.

Keep fine-tuning your cover letter.

Everything changes, ranging from the dynamics of the job market in your niche to your accomplishments.

Even after being hired, keep bringing up to date your cover letter. Essentially jobs have become project assignments. Soon enough you could be searching for the next project.

Communications Strategy/Services and Career Coaching. Special areas of expertise include professionals over-50 and students applying to degree programs in higher education.